Yellowstone

Bald Eagle in Yellowstone
Photos taken with my little point-and-shoot camera.

Yellowstone Lake

If you haven't been to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, they should be on your list of "places I must see". We enjoyed a family vacation here last week and I'm still trying to assimilate all of the images and experiences
Our home base was West Yellowstone, Montana, and the first thing we did was visit the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center
which is a non-profit organization that takes in animals that can no longer live in the wild, and gives the public an opportunity to observe them up-close.

My daughter's fiance, Sam, had a little fun wearing a bear mask and participating in a demonstration on using bear pepper spray when deterring a bear in the wilderness is necessary (no animals or humans harmed in demo).

Boardwalks in the park let visitors walk through areas of hot pools and geysers. Here we explored the Fountain Paint Pots area. Steaming pools of water and mud can be found in several locations in Yellowstone.

And what would a trip to Yellowstone be without seeing an eruption of Old Faithful?
We saw a herd of over one hundred bison in the Hayden Valley area, who are feeding in preparation for the winter ahead.
This guy was right next to the road. Guests are warned not to get too close, but the bison don't seem at all fazed by the hordes of excited tourists with cameras.
Our favorite area in the park was the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. This is the view of the Lower Falls from Artist's Point.

Steaming pools near the Norris Museum

I'll post some pictures from Grand Teton next time.